Foundling
by stephenopolos
Summary: "Hey, I thought I was the only one allowed to pick up strays," said Sam jokingly. Cassie Fraiser and Jonathon "Jon" O'Neill (clone boy) are headed up to the O'Neill cabin for summer vacation when they pick up a stray teen by way of almost running him over.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Foundling

Jon O'Neill squinted through the heavy rain to make out the road ahead. The truck was a gift from Jack, his "dad," before they split. He cursed himself again for deciding to drive through the storm instead of stopping at a motel for the night. Why he let Cassie convince him to take her with on vacation at his cabin, his vacation was barely started and he wasn't feeling very relaxed.

As if repeating high school wasn't enough, the rumors that would start with this one trip would last for the rest of his high school career.

Up ahead in the road his eyes caught a flash of white in the beam from the headlights. Jon pressed down on the break hard and swerved, his truck sliding on the wet pavement as the truck fishtailed into the ditch.

"Jon," Cassie squealed clutching her seatbelt.

"Damn," he swore.

When the truck finally stopped, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, the sound of breathing was heavy and loud over the steady flick of the wipers.

"What was that," said Cassie.

"Probably a deer," said Jon, unbuckling his seatbelt to get out and check.

He stopped, that was definitely not a deer. The truck had fishtailed, spinning almost completely around, the road now illuminated by the headlights.

"I don't think that was a deer, Jon," said Cassie.

Foundling

There was a teen standing there shivering in what looked like a silvery pajama suit, he might have be Jon's age possibly younger.

"Cassie," Jon called into the truck. "Hand me the blanket behind my seat."

Cassie reached behind his seat to grab the heavy wool blanket, and handed it to him.

Turning back to the road and the boy who was still there staring blankly away from him, Jon O'Neill carefully approached and wrapped the blanket around the boy's shoulders.

"Hey! You okay?" He said.

The boy startled for a moment before grabbing the edges of the offered blanket and pulling them tighter around himself.

"You're soaked," He observed.

"I didn't know rain would be so, cold," the boy's voice was barely a whisper.

Jon carefully picked up the kid and carried him back to the truck setting the boy in the passenger seat. He was closer to the cabin at this point than civilization it wouldn't be worth the hassle driving all the way back this late and he could use the phone at the cabin since his cell was getting spotty reception at the moment anyway.

Slowly he put the truck in gear and eased back onto the road. Next to him the boy stared out at the rain with wide eyes his shivering slowly easing as the heat warmed him.

"Feeling warmer now?" Jon asked, but didn't get a response, so he calmly talked to the boy as he drove.

"The cabin is up ahead, and while the fridge probably doesn't have anything worth eating in it, I do have some food in a cooler in the back of the truck," he said, pausing for a response.

"Once we get there you stay put on the couch while I bring the cooler in, then we're going to call Cassie's mom and I'll make dinner," he continued.

Fifteen minutes later Jon pulled into the driveway at the cabin, beyond the one sentence the boy said when Jon picked him up he'd been silent the whole trip. Jack's truck was already there, and Jon groaned.

"Not that I want to spend the week with the other me, but this simplifies things," Jon muttered.

Jon fiddled with the keys to unlock the door and pushed it open. Then he walked back to the truck and around to the passenger side opened the door and carefully picked the boy up carrying him into the cabin and setting him on the couch.

"Cassie, call your mom, I'm going to restart the fire and then I'm going back out to grab the cooler," Jon said.

He crossed the room to the fireplace, opened the grate and poked the ashes. The ashes appeared to have gone cold so he cleaned the remains out of the fireplace and grabbed new logs and some lint and paper to restart the fire, he lit a match and caught the kindling, he watched the flame carefully until he was sure it was steady before closing and securing the grate.

He turned got up and turned around to go back to the truck to see the kid staring out at him from behind the bangs of his dark hair. "Should get warmer in here with the fire going," Jon said. "Stay put and don't touch the fireplace. I'll be right back with that cooler of food."

* * *

"Jon? Is everything okay? You practically just left, is Cassie okay?" Doctor Janet Fraiser's voice came through the phone.

"Janet, we're fine, the storm caught us on the way up, but we're both okay," Jon sounded relieved to hear the doctor's voice.

"Do you need me to come up there," The doctor asked in a teasing tone.

"Actually, we were only a few minutes from my cabin when we almost hit a kid, he was standing in the middle of the road without a stitch on him. With the storm outside and how tired we both are, we're not going to drive back or I'd already have him at the clinic in town, but I'd like to have someone either head up here or meet me in town to look him over."

"You're not pranking me are you?" Janet asked.

"Do you think I'd be calling you at one in the morning to prank you doctor?"

"Only you Jon. The staff can handle everything here, I'll be right up as soon as I okay it with the general," Doctor Fraiser said.

"Jack's here, he's asleep though, so i'll fill him in when he wakes up in the morning. Why didn't you tell me he was going to be here," Jon said.

"I knew he was on vacation, Jon, not that he'd gone up to the cabin," the doctor replied.

* * *

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Major Samantha Carter asked.

"It seems Jon picked up a stray on the way up to his cabin," Janet replied as she put her stethoscope into her medical kit.

"I thought I was the only one allowed to do that," Sam said jokingly. "Isn't Cassie with him?"

Janet gave her a look turning away to grab a few of the smaller more portable diagnostic tools. "She insisted on going."

"Mind if I tag along?"

Janet turned back towards Sam, "You're welcome to join me, major, it's a fourteen-hour drive and I could use a second driver."

"So tell me what he's gotten into this time," Sam asked picking up one of the doctor's bags.

"From what the colonel told me he almost ran into a boy who was standing in the middle of the road in the pouring rain, being closer to his cabin than the town and given the situation, he wanted someone from the base to help take care of things," Janet said as she grabbed the other bag. "The general already called ahead to the local county sheriff to have them ready a missing person's report to see if we can match."

* * *

Jon groaned as he awoke. The curtain was pulled back from the window allowing the sunlight to flood the room and the bed was angled just right so that it shone directly in his eyes.

He'd stayed up pretty late the previous night convincing the kid to eat, and the decision to drive through the night wasn't helping his fatigue. He grumbled to himself as he went about his morning routine, restroom, getting dressed, and starting the coffee pot.

The boy looked up as he entered the living room, he was still wrapped up in the blanket but a skinny arm was out holding a thick book open to about the middle. On the coffee table lying open was a dictionary and next to that a small stack of books.

"That's some heavy reading," Jon said, as he sat down next to the kid, and placed his cup of coffee on the table.

The boy just shrugged.

"My name's Jon, what's your name?" Jon asked.

"I am called Tobias," the boy said with a shrug.

Jack made his way into the kitchen smelling the coffee brewing on the counter. He was relieved that Jon and Cassie made it through the storm and planned on giving Jon hell about driving through instead of stopping in town. He was just glad Janet called him to let him know that Cassie and Jon would be headed up or he might've been a little more concerned last night when they came in. The boy sitting in the living room was new though.

"Jon," Jack said his actions pointing out that he wanted to know who Jon brought in.

"Stay here Tobias," Jon said, pulling Jack into the kitchen where he explained how they'd almost run the boy over. After the story was finished, Jack returned to the living room. The silvery material peaking through the blankets did not look adequate for clothing to him.

"Well Tobias, let's get you something other than those pajamas to wear," Jack said.

"I'll loan him something from what I packed until we can get him his own clothes," offered Jon.

A few minutes later Jon returned to the living room with a pile of clothes that Tobias stared at like it was the first time he'd seen such things.

"Oh, for crying out loud," said Jack, pointing at Jon. "This is all yours i'm not teaching him how to put clothes on."

"I am aware of the concept of clothing," Tobias deadpanned into the silence. "I just didn't know so many layers would be involved," muttered Tobias.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

Colonel Jack O'Neill, was putting on his coat to go start the truck, when Tobias reached over and grabbed his shoulder.

"Jack, there's someone outside," said Tobias.

O'Neill looked up, quickly walking over to the window where he gently lifted one of the vinyl slats in the blinds. Whatever he saw he must not have liked as he turned back to Jon, and Tobias with a grim expression.

"Stay here kids," Jack said.

Jon glared at him incredulously.

"I'm not arguing this, Jon. You know where the backup is," Jack said.

Jack reached under the seat and grabbed the box he kept his gun in. He slid the clip in place before attaching the holster to his belt.

Jack palmed the weapon he already had holstered and opened the cabin door.

* * *

Jack O'Neill inched away from the front door as quietly as possible darting over to the door to the truck and crouched to the side. The kids watching from the behind the blinds in the cabin. He stood there for a moment before ducking around the corner and pointing the gun into the truck bed.

The flatbed was empty, he lowered the weapon slightly, and stood walking over to the cab of the truck to peak through the window. Though it didn't look like anything had been disturbed. Turning to go back inside there was a flash of something from the treeline and a bolt of yellow hit the ground in front of the house kicking up chunks of dirt and gravel.

Jack steadied himself and fired once into the trees receiving another answering bolt of plasma which hit a chair on the porch next to the front door.

Jack took aim and fired twice at where he though the shot had come from.

Another round came out of the woods this one slamming into Jack's leg and he yelled in agony collapsing to the ground. After a moment he gritted his teeth and took aim one handed, firing back with three bullets.

A thump was heard in the distance. Jack lay there panting for a moment. Before looking up as the screen door slammed.

Cassie was crying, "Uncle Jack."

"You're hurt," Tobias said.

"I'll be fine kid," Jack said. "Cassie, I'm okay, I need you to grab the cordless phone. Jon, you know where the first-aid kit is, grab it please."

Jon and Cassie nodded, entering the cabin.

"Tobias, put some pressure on my leg here," Jack said pointing to a pressure point on his leg. "The plasma bolt mostly cauterized the wound but there's still some bleeding, and this should keep it from getting worse."

Tobias nodded and bit his lip. He stretched out his hand and followed as Jack directed him to apply pressure to the vein. He barely noticed as his palms grew almost uncomfortably warm and he felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead even though it wasn't hot outside.

Colonel O'Neill, felt something itching from the plasma burn on the outside of his right leg and looked down, flinching as the open wound looked like it was slowly closing over.

"If I said Nox would that mean anything to you?" O'Neill asked.

Tobias's brow furrowed.

"Not so much?" Jack said.

Tobias shrugged, but seemed to have decided something.

"Father said the Nox are old allies," said Tobias.

O'Neill pushed himself up until he was seated on the ground his back against the cabin wall.

"Who is father, Tobias," said Jack, suddenly very focused despite the pain.

"Father is father," shrugged Tobias.

"And father didn't give you a name to call him by?" said Jack.

"Father is father," repeated Tobias.

"Damn, I liked that chair," He grumbled, glancing over at the remains of the chair the second plasma blast had hit.

* * *

Tobias flinched at the sound of the screen door opening, the glow under his hand quickly receding as he moved it away from the plasma burn. He looked at his hand, the bunk from the burn wound leaving his palm messy, and made a face before wiping his hand on his pants.

The burn which earlier was angry red and weeping blood from around the edges where the skin had cracked when Jack fell, now looked like it was two weeks old instead of only ten minutes. Jack looked between the two of them.

"Hand me the phone will you," He asked.

Cassie placed the phone in his hand, while Jon kneeled down beside him and started unpacking the kit.

Jack dialed a number wincing as Jon poked the tender skin on his leg while showing Tobias how to wrap the bandage around the wound.

After a moment of arguing with an operator he finally gave a sigh of relief, "General Hammond, sir."

"Yes, sir."

"I need a team sent up, sir, someone just shot at me with what looked like a staff weapon."

"No, sir, they only grazed my leg, the kids have almost finished bandaging it up."

"No, sir, I don't think it's related to the kids, but for their safety I want that team up here even more so," jack was silent for a moment listening to the other end of the conversation.

"Teal'c is cleared to go outside the mountain? That's great, you know how he is with the kids."

"The ladies shouldn't be too far away from Buffalo, they'll be exhausted from the drive but should still be able to help."

"Best bet would be a field outside of town, or the football field at the local high school."

"Alright, I'll have them meet the helicopter on the field at the high school in about three hours."

"Cassie would you call Janet for me," Jack asked handing the phone back to her after he hung up.

* * *

Janet frowned as her phone rang from her bag.

"Hello," after a moment of digging she answered the phone.

Sam glanced over from the driver's seat and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"It's Cassie," Janet said in answer.

"He what?" Janet scowled, calming herself she said, "Cassie, would you tell the Colonel I'd like to talk to him."

* * *

Jack put the phone to his ear, only to pull it away just as quickly as Janet started in on him.

"Just what the hell are you thinking, Colonel. You, are supposed to be on vacation, not getting shot at," the kids could hear Doctor Fraiser yelling from the phone, her tirade continued at length describing in detail the measures she was going to enact when she got her hands on him.

"Hi, Doctor Fraiser," he said tentatively when it sounded like she'd calmed down.

"Don't you, 'Hi, Dr Fraiser,' me colonel. Just remember I have a large needle with your name on it," she replied. "Tell me how bad the damage is."

"Oh, just fine, doctor, turns out Tobias here has something of a healing touch."

"Try again, and this time without using the word fine, colonel. And don't think you won't be explaining in great detail just what you meant," Janet said. O'Neill's gulp was audible from the other end of the line.

Jack winced, "Understood doctor, I have a partially healed plasma burn on my right thigh, the rest of the comment should be explained in person."

Jack heard carter faintly in the background, "A plasma burn I thought he said he was shot."

"Same difference. Janet, tell Sam, I have a feeling that shooter wasn't alone, and we'll need to search for how they got here. Would you two do me a huge favor? SG3 and Teal'c are headed up by helicopter, they should be here in about three hours, they'll probably land in the football field at the local high school," Jack said.

Janet lowered the phone to relay the message to Major Carter before picking up the phone again.

"Sam has her radio, we'll coordinate with the pilot when they're in range," Janet replied.

* * *

Jon sat back crossing his arms as he examined his work.

"Help me up," Jack said.

Tobias looked at cassie and tilted his head. Cassie shrugged in response before grabbing Jack's right hand. Tobias copied her taking his left and the two of them pulled him to his feet.

Jack glanced at his knees, gingerly putting pressure on his injured leg.

"You do good work kid," he said ruffling Tobias's hair.

* * *

"I swear," Doctor Janet Fraiser said ending the call. "Take your eyes off him for an hour and he gets in a mess."

"Sounds about right," Sam laughed. "We're about an hour and a half way from town. Which should give us just enough time until the team shows up, so how about we stop and get lunch once we get there."

"Deal," Janet replied.


End file.
